Apparatus for transferring grain and the storage thereof



2 SheQts-Shaet l.-

(No Model.)

. L, SMITH. y AFABATUS FOR-TRANSFERRING GRAIN AND TEE STORAGE THERESE'.y NG. 321,759.

.Patented July 7E m85.

(-NoModel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. L. SMITH.

APPARATUS FR TRANSPHRRING GRAINVAND THE STORAGE THBBEOF. No. 321,769. yPatented July 7, 1885.

UnrTnn dTaTns ATnNT Tries..

LYMAN SMITH, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING GRAIN AND THE STORAGE THEREOF.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No,321,7697 dated `l'uly 7,1885.

Application filed February Q6, 1895. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, z5 may con/cern."

Be it known that I, LYMAN SMITH, of Kansas City, in the county ofJackson and State' of Missouri, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus `for Transferring Grain and Storage thereof;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,elear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, refer ence beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and tothe letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this speciiieation.

My invention relates to combined hydraulic and pneumatic apparatus `fortransferring grain, coal, sand, and other similar substances from oneplace of storage to another, and is designed to be applied in placeswhere it is possible to utilize a head of water for creating anartificial exhaustion of the air for that purpose. My pneumatic grainconveycrs, in which the transfer of grain and like sub stances iseffected automatically by suitable apparatus operated by the exhaustionofl the air, are well known in practice,and are fully described inseveral patents issued to me, and particularly referred to in Patent No.279,034.

The present improvement consists, essentially, in combining with thesaid apparatus, or in substituting for the air-pump in the saidapparatus, a water-reservoir in which the Water is raised and lowered toperform the function of a piston, 'as now applied to airengines, whichwater is supplied from a suitable source. A

Strictly speaking, my invention consists of an improved automatic.pumping or exhaust` ing apparatus which may be applied to any use ofwhich such apparatus is capable; but my claims in this application willcover a method of automatic pumping, the claims for the constructionbeing reserved for a future application.

The form of apparatus which I have shown is especially adapted to use inconnection with my graiireoiiveyer; but it should be understood that I'do not desire to limit it to that use alone. l

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe it inconnection with the aceompanyiilg drawings,

in which- Figure l is an elevation of my combined hydraulic andpneumatic graintransfer apparatus, showing partly in section mygrain-bin provided with drying devices; and Fig. 2 is an elevation,partly sectional, of myirnproved automatic pumping or exhaustingapparatus.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all thedrawings.

Referring to Fig. l, Ais a vacuum-chamber inthe upper part of auelevator, into which chamber the grain or othersubstanee is drawnthrough the elevator pipe or tube a. B is the pipe to which the pumpingapparatus is attached for exhausting the air from the chamber A. Thepipes or tubes C C are deliverypipes, through which the grain falls bygravity to the place to which itis desired to transfer it. All the pipesare provided with suita ble supply and cut-off valves, whereby anautomaticoperation of the grain-conveyor is secured.

The construction and operation of this part of my invention have beenfully described in other applications of mine and need no specialdescription here.

My improved pumping apparatus is connected by a pipe, B', to the pipeB,aud I may connect to the same pipe B several pumps, as shown in Fig.1,and the said pipe may branch off to the vacuum-chambers of severaldiiieu ent elevators or to several vacuum-chambers in the same elevator.Each pump is also couneeted by a pipe, D, to a watersupply pipe, D, andconsists, essentially, of the following parts:

A chamber or reservoir, E, of suitable dimensions, is preferablysupported in masonry along the bank of a river or elsewhere near thewater. An outlet-pipe, E', leads from the bottom of this chamber orreservoir, and terminates, preferably, under the surface of the river.It may terminate in the open air, in which case it is not necessary thatthe reservoir E should be supported near a body of water.

rIhc inlet-pipe D and the outlet-pipe E' are provided, respectively,with the valves d and e. These valves are operated by the compoundgravity-lever F in such a manner that IOO when the lever is in aposition to open one valve the other will be closed.

The compound lever consists of the vertical rod F and the weightedarmsfj", attached to the valves. are joined to the rod F by an elongatedslot and a pin attachment. Secured tothe rod F, as shown, is acylindrical receptacle or cylinder, F, capable of holding water, andprovided with an outlet-pipe, g, by which the water lnay be drawn off,and a stop-cock, g', by which to regulate the rapidity with which itshall be emptied. A small pipe, G, leads from the pipe E, and, afterrunning up to a height level with the top of the chamber, bends down andterminates directly above the cylinder F. The pipe G is closed by thevalve 71, and the pipe B by the valve c. A fourth pipe, I, communicatingwith the open air, leads from the top ofthe reservoir E and is closed bythe valve i.

The operation ofmy pumping apparatus is as follows: It being understoodthat the weights on the armsff are such that they operate the lever toopen the valve d and close the valve c, and it being further understoodthat the cylinder F' is made large enough, so that the weight of watertherein when it is full is more than enough to overbalanee the weightson the arms ff, and so to reverse the positions of the valves, thewater, being let in through the pipe D, passes into the reservoir E, andgradually fills first the pipe I, and then the pipe G and the reservoir,the valve c preventing the exit of the water from the pipe E', and thevalve li allowing its entrance into the pipe G. As the water rises t-heair is expelled from the reservoir through the pipe I,and the valve cofthe pipe B is pushed against its seat. \Vhen the reservoir is nearly orquite filled, the water in the pipe G begins lo overflow and fall intothe cylinder F', and after a little time the weight of water in thecylinder Fl overcomes that of the weighted arms ff and turns the valvesd and e, so that the supply is cut oft andthe exit open through the pipeE under the surface of the water. rlhe cock lf/"in the tubef/ is turnedso as to allow a gentle llow of water out ofthe cylinder F. rllhe amountof outflow as compared with the amount of inflow through G is graduatedby experiment so that the cylinder will be iilled and afterward emptiedin a convenient time or in the time required for properly operating thepump. As soon as, or perhaps before, the water is emptied from thecylinder F, the weights will restore the valves, and the same operationwill be repeated. It is intended that this restoration ofthe valvesshall take place before the water has all been exhausted from the pipeE. During the exhaustion of the chamber or reservoir E the valve z' willbe closed and the valve c opened. It is evident, therefore, that by thesuccessive movements of the water in the reservoir the pipe I3 will beacted upon by suction, and that The outer ends of the armsff in theapparatus shown in Fig. 1 the air will be exhausted automatically fromthe chamber A. It is also evident that the pipe I will be alternatelyclosed by suction and opened by pneumatic pressure. The pipe I may, ifdesired, be connected to any suitable motor, so as to utilize thispressure. The water in the reservoir acts, it will be observed, in theplace of an ordinary piston, and the water behind that in the reservoirserves the function ordinarily performed by the piston-rod.

rlhe object of placing the end of the pipe Fi under water is so that noair may enter through the pipe into the reservoir.

Any other means besides those shown for cutting off the water-supply andproviding an exit may be employed without a substantial departure fromthe broad principles of my invention.

As referred to in the patent above cited, this system is designed topreserve grain from moisture, and for drying and curing it, and fordestroying the animaleule and grain insect, and applies particularly tograin that becomes wet in transit or from other cause. This feature is along-felt want in handling grain, and is calculated to save untoldmillions of bushels, as well as to restore it to its natural conditionand money value.

It is well known that grain when wet is rcgardcd as damaged, and is soldfor little more than half its value when dry, really when the said grainis otherwise in a sound condition. V3y my process I can in a very shortspace of time revivify and dry this wet grain, and restore it to itsoriginal freshness and purity, just as much so as when standing in theear when it got wet and was immediately dried by the blowing of thewind. My process is j ust as natural, and while I use ari ilieial meansfor drying, the same as nature did in theiield, I use pure atmosphericair, the said air surrounding every grain and permeating the e11- tiremass.

Any of my bilis may be made applicable to the drying process of grain;but I prefer" to make them of a conical shape at both ends when appliedto grain, for the reason that when the bin is exposed to the weather thecone-shaped top sheds the rain or snow, and by having the bottomcone-shaped the grain or other granular substances will slide to thecxtreme outlet by its own gravity.

XVhile this drying process is very beneficial for grain generally, itcannot be surpassed for seed-grain.

It is well known to farmers and to persons generally handling seedgrainthatalarge percentage of it is attacked by insects-such as worms,weevil, and the like-which unlits it for seed. rIhose insects get intothe germ of the grain unbeknown to the farmer or mcrchant handling thegrain, which destroys it for seed purposes, so that when grain of thischaracter is sown it fails to come up, and at a time too late to plantother grain. Thus a IOO large percentage of that years crop is lost.Now, with my invention the said grain can be first dried; then all theairis exhausted from the bin, in which a vacuum is created. The grainmay be left in this vacuum fora certain length of time, when, in theabsence of atmospheric air, every atom of animal life is dcstroyed. Itwill be fully understood that only atmospheric air is used in my dryingprocess, and therefore the grain is not subjected to heated or vitiatedair.

Having now described my inventiomwhat I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

l. The method of pumping automatically7 which consists in alternatelyintroducing Water into a reservoir connected with a suctionpipe, andcutting off the supply of Water and affording an outlet therefor bymeans of the overilow, substantially as set forth.

2. The method of pul'nping automatically7 which consists in alternatelyiilling with water a reservoir connected with a suction-pipe andemptying the same to create a vacuum, sub stantially as set forth.

3. The process of utilizing Water iu a reser- Voir to produce avacuum-power and an aircompressor alternately, substantially asdescribed.

4t. The process of utilizing a Water-reservoir as a motive power forconveying grain and the like, which consists, first,`in displacing thewater in the reservoir, thereby creating a vacuum, then applying thesuction-power of said vacuum to an air-tight ehambervhich in turn isconnected to a place in which grain is stored, in such manner that thegrain rushes with the air to the vacuum-chamber, substantially asdescribed.

5. The process of utilizing the Water in an air-tight reservoir, whichconsists in automatically raising the Water in the reservoir,by whichthe air is displaced and compressed into a smaller compass, thenconnecting the compressed-air chamber to a place Where grain is storedin such manner as to force the grain out of said chamber by the force ofsaid compressed air, substantially as described.

6. rIhe process herein described of drying and curing grain, whichconsists of rst drawing air through itin an air-tight bin or receiveruntil. it is dry, then exhausting said bin or receiver of the airtherein contained, then permitting it to remain in the storage-placessui-'fr cientlylong to kill or destroy the lifeof theinsect in or amongthe grain, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I aiiix my signaturein presence of two Witnesses.

LYMAN SMITH.

liiitnesses:

O. E. DUFFY, J. FRED. RErLY.

